Little miser, crying very loudly

"I get so much allowance simply because I'm a good girl, meow~~"

"Oh..."

Jin Momona's eyes began to sparkle. After listening to Gan Xingzhu's account of her experiences, she found it genuinely inspiring.

Her father was still in prison, the family's assets were frozen, and they had no source of income... Yet, in just half a year, she had joined the high-income bracket with an average monthly earnings of over ten thousand!

Wow, how wonderful!

Instead of looking down on Gan Xingzhu for getting something for nothing, she felt that Gan Xingzhu had put in a tremendous amount of labor. She knew all too well that the new master of the house was an absolute beast.

"So Momona, as long as you learn to be obedient, you can also have lots and lots of..."

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't corrupt a child!"

Li Jie finally couldn't help but interrupt the "little white cat's" nonsense.

Retrieving a high-quality chocolate-flavored protein bar from the freezer, Boss Li took a bite before sitting down in front of the sofa and pinching Gan Xingzhu's cheek. "Jin Momona is still a month shy of eighteen. She won't turn eighteen until her birthday on the twenty-eighth of next month. Don't go filling her head with crooked ideas."

"Understood, meow~~ I was wrong, meow~~"

Gan Xingzhu quickly resorted to sounding pitiable and meowing, acting cute and coquettishly before skillfully exposing her belly to apologize, which incidentally also displayed her "D-Will".

"Jin Momona, are you that short on money?"

"There are things I want to buy, too. The more things I want, the faster the money runs out. Back in Beidu, I could always get things reimbursed by someone. Now that Sis is giving me an 'allowance', I hesitate to buy a lot of things."

With that, Jin Momona asked curiously, "Brother-in-law, how are you so good at making money? Is there some kind of trick to it?"

"Talent."

"I want to learn how to write songs or something too. If it becomes a massive hit... Wow, I'm definitely going to buy a villa just for myself!"

"Heh."

Li Jie gave a light chuckle. "You and Jing Wanqiu think you can break away from the Ji family on your own merits? It's not that I look down on you both, but your Jin family, and Jing Wanqiu's Jing family, are both absolute lackeys, yet you sure know how to dream."

[...]

Glaring at Li Jie, whose foul mouth could never spit out ivory, Jin Momona was rendered speechless by his retort.

Because it was a fact. Because it was the truth.

Only the truth was like a knife, stabbing people so deeply they couldn't even cry out.

In both political and business circles, the Jing family and the Jin family were complete vassal families to the Ji family. Regardless of the industry or field, the elites cultivated by these two families were all serving the Ji family.

Ordinary people might dream of breaking away from such master-servant relations and lord-vassal ties. However, once young people step into society, start looking for jobs, or reach the age of marriage, the material demands and the atmosphere created by their surrounding collective environment inevitably force them to seriously reconsider whenever they are faced with a shortcut.

A genuine shortcut to skipping thirty years of struggle.

Simply by becoming a son-in-law of the Ji family—regardless of whether it was a matrilocal marriage—you could secure a position as a university professor, producer, executive of a listed logistics company, district councilor, high-quality government post...

An ordinary youth chooses "this is awesome"; a literary youth chooses "refreshing to the soul"; a fool chooses "holy shit, this is too damn good."

Even for those who were dragons amongst men, if they had scientific research talent, an endless stream of research funding, projects, and teams would be provided to support them; if they had political ambitions, multi-dimensional packaging from the grassroots all the way to the central government would keep them frequently in the public eye; if they had business acumen, from south to north, east to west, regardless of the industry, people would be there to help grease the wheels of human favors...

Who could possibly test young people with temptation like this?!

How many youths could withstand such a test?

In a world like this, there is nothing wrong with being a "dog".

Therefore, faced with Li Jie's mockery, Jin Momona couldn't fart a single syllable in response, especially since Li Jie had actually granted Ji Shengnan a freedom she had never experienced since birth.

Though the price of such freedom was perhaps a bit too steep—surrendering her "first blood" was one thing, but it also awakened strange proclivities, requiring her to completely expose those proclivities every single day...

Jin Momona had also caught some of the reflected glory, finally able to enjoy a tiny bit of self-will like a normal young girl. Although it wasn't much, she could now at least dare to imagine owning a large villa in the future.

Such a tiny, extravagant hope was nothing more than a joke in Li Jie's eyes.

To be fair, one shouldn't mock a young girl's dreams; however, Boss Li was not reasonable.

Thus, the puffed-up Jin Momona grew even angrier, her cheeks swelling until her entire face turned beet red.

The "little white cat" blinked her large eyes, suddenly wondering if Jin Momona was also blazing red all over right now.

"Why are you glaring at me? Is glaring at me going to do anything?"

"You're bullying people!"

"Tsk."

After taking a suck of a chocolate popsicle—no, a chocolate-flavored protein bar—Boss Li bit down on the bar, stood up, rummaged through the drawer underneath the TV cabinet, found an envelope, casually pulled out a stack of cash, and tossed it onto the coffee table. "Here, ten thousand bucks. Go spend it."

[...]

Jin Momona clenched her fists in fury, staring at Li Jie, then glancing sidelong at the ten thousand yuan on the coffee table, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Not enough!!!"

Pfft!

The "little white cat" sitting in the sofa drinking water spat it right out.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Li Jie hurriedly patted her chest to soothe her breathing, taking the opportunity to stroke her a couple of times for good measure, before sitting back down in the sofa with his legs crossed, looking at the teeth-grinding Jin Momona. "Little brat, you've got quite a tight mouth. If you want this master to add more money, then sit down properly and talk to me!"

[...]

Only then did Jin Momona snap back to reality and realize what she had just blurted out. Her already flushed face turned as red as if it were about to drip water.

She wanted to run away, but where could she possibly run to?

Swish.

Li Jie pulled another stack of cash from the envelope and waved it around. "Are you going to sit down properly and talk?"

"I'll count to three. If you don't sit down and talk properly, I'm giving this money... to Xingzhu. One, two... Xingzhu, it's yours."

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the money right into Gan Xingzhu's lap.

"Thank you, Master, meow~~"

Without a moment's hesitation, she grabbed the money and gave it a kiss—the money, that is.

The "little white cat" only stayed in this household for the money, meow~~

Clenching her fists in extreme frustration, Jin Momona had tears welling up in her eyes. Her moist, large eyes, however, remained fixed on the ten thousand yuan in Gan Xingzhu's hands.

What was wrong with liking money?!

"Sigh... There's another stack of money right here. I'll count to three again. If..."

"You didn't even count to three just now!"

"I'll count however I damn well please, what's it to you? Three, it's yours again, Xingzhu."

[...]

[...]

Boss Li was stunned, and the "little white cat" was stunned too.

In truth, Li Jie had long discovered that Jin Momona was a little miser. Of course, Jin Momona wasn't a gold-digger; she simply liked money, and liked the idea of being able to exercise control over her own thoughts through money.

Back at "Gaolianghe Entertainment", she might have had such thoughts, but she could only comply with "Sis".

Because everything revolved around "Wang Tianxian".

Her thoughts, her time, her needs, and even her very self could not be controlled at will.

Her essence was merely Ji Shengnan's personal maid.

It was as simple as that.

A maid's destiny...

How could she dare harbor a mistress's ambitions?

And upon coming to Li Jie's place, Ji Shengnan's liberation meant the liberation of both her and Jing Wanqiu. Jing Wanqiu now ate and drank well every day, putting on more meat than her young mistress; Jin Momona was the same. All the chores she used to do at "Gaolianghe Entertainment" were no longer required.

Her work was on hiatus because Ji Shengnan never showed her face in public, and all media exposure had no genuine contact with the outside world—it was merely resource protection for her "creative abilities".

At this moment, Jin Momona was utterly free. She ate whatever she wanted, played whatever she wanted, without having to worry about this or that, let alone constantly going to the Ji family estate to pay respects, offer greetings, and report on her work.

None of that was necessary. Nothing at all.

She had fallen in love with shopping—going to malls, visiting small shops, browsing on her computer and phone. It was so much fun.

Fun or not, pretty or ugly, liked or disliked, she bought whatever she caught her eye on. It didn't matter if mountains of courier packages piled up at the guard's booth; she could go pick them up whenever she felt like it...

She wasn't a gold-digger; she just... loved money.

Yet now, she had been teased by Li Jie to the point of a complete emotional breakdown, rolling around on the floor.

Literally rolling around.

If it were anyone else, Jin Momona would have given them a beating, but Li Jie was an exception.

Not because Li Jie was the new master of the house.

It was simply because...

She couldn't beat him.

She really couldn't beat him!

She truly couldn't beat him!

And so, she cried even louder.

Boss Li crossed his legs. He was quite experienced in dealing with "kids"—what kind of scenes hadn't he witnessed back at the "Red Star Orphanage"?

Pulling yet another stack of cash from the envelope, the rustling of the paper envelope instantly silenced her crying for half a second, before Li Jie's voice sounded once more: "There's another ten thousand here..."

"I'm sitting properly! I'm sitting properly! Give it to me! Give it to me!"

Jin Momona, who had just been crying and making a scene, was now sitting cross-legged and obediently proper, her bottom planted flat on the floor, looking up at Li Jie with tear-filled eyes while letting out the occasional sob.

As Li Jie extended the stack of cash toward her, Jin Momona's eyes lit up. Just as she reached out to grab it, Li Jie lightly tapped her face with the money. "Look at you, look at you. Wouldn't it have been better if you'd just been this obedient from the start?"

"Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm, Brother-in-law, I was wrong. I'll definitely be a good girl from now on, I'll be so obedient, I... huh?"

She watched as Li Jie pulled the money back.

"The country has its laws, and a family has its rules. Your behavior just now made me very dissatisfied. Our Li family has a simple and honest family tradition; how could you throw a tantrum and roll around like you did just now? Therefore, as punishment, I can't give you this ten thousand."

[...]

Jin Momona's eyes widened in disbelief, her chest heaving up and down. The home shorts that were already digging into the flesh of her thighs were now practically riding up to her crotch.

With another loud wail, Jin Momona cried even harder than before.